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River Hawks chairmen of the boards

LOWELL -- It was a refreshing role reversal for UMass Lowell. The perpetually undersized River Hawks got to play the part of the bully under the basket for a change.

UMass Lowell entered Monday night's non-conference matchup with New Jersey Institute of Technology sporting an average rebounding margin of -5.6. But UML played like a possessed pack of ball-hungry beasts against the visiting Highlanders, owning the glass by a spread of 48-26.

As a result, the River Hawks also owned the game. UML rolled to a 73-64 victory at Costello Athletic Center after having led by as many as 19 points in the second half.

UMass Lowell's Akeem Williams works against Montana Mayfield of the N.J. Institute of Technology during their basketball game Monday night. SUN/BOB WHITAKER

"(The rebounding) was huge. It gave us extra possessions," said senior guard Akeem Williams, who had one of UML's 20 offensive rebounds. "I think the energy we played with kind of helped that, too. Right when we started the game I thought we were quicker to loose balls and 50/50 balls."

UMass Lowell, the new kid on the Division 1 block, continues to turn heads. The River Hawks are now 7-14, and sit in third place in the America East Conference at 5-4.

The rebounding was indeed impressive, especially when coupled with the fact that UMass Lowell head coach Pat Duquette said it was his team's "best offensive game all year."

Junior guard Chad Holley had 13 points, eight assists and just two turnovers, while Williams had 12 points and five assists. Senior forwards Antonio Bivins (10 points, 10 rebounds) and Kerry Weldon (seven points, 10 rebounds) did the dirty work down low.

"We scored 40 points in the first half and I thought we really executed our offense well. We shared the ball, we spaced the floor, we had 19 assists for the game," said Duquette. "It's a great way to win a game."

This was the second meeting of the season between these teams. In the first outing, NJIT -- a Division 1 independent -- won 55-44 on its home court. Highlanders (9-15) head coach Jim Engles has a knack for mixing his defenses up and elected to play a significant amount of 2-3 zone on Monday night.

That didn't work out so well, as the River Hawks continuously busted the zone with penetration and kick-outs from Williams and Holley. Five different River Hawks exploited the zone by making a three, including two from reserve guard and Westford native Mark Cornelius (eight points, five rebounds).

"Chad and Akeem would attack gaps and once you get in those gaps it's easy," said Mlachnik. "That was the key to our success, beating the zone and getting those open threes. I thought we really looked for each other and passed up an open shot to get a better shot."

NJIT, sparked by the hot shooting of freshman guard Damon Lynn (23 points), led 20-16 with 9:05 left in the first half. The River Hawks then closed the frame on a 24-9 run to seize control. The UML lead hovered in the teens until the final minute of the contest.

"I like to think that we've gotten better. I know we have," said Duquette. "We've seen the progress in our guys in a lot of different ways. We're a different team now than we were two months ago. We're in a good spot right now, we're playing with confidence."

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